6. DATA SOURCES › 6.2 Processing Network Monitor Data From VM Hosts › 6.2.2 CA NetSpy › 6.2.2.1 CA NetSpy VTAM Interface

6.2.2.1 CA NetSpy VTAM Interface

The CA NetSpy VTAM Interface records response time and load
data in an SMF user record, or the VM equivalent.  Recording
is for site-selected host applications (for example, TSO,
IMS, and CICS) and terminal sessions with those applications.
The resulting SMF type data consists of up to five record
subtypes, one that contains load and response data by
application, three that contain terminal session load and
response information, and one that contains virtual route
activity and response time data.  These records are written
at user-defined intervals and their content may be tailored
to include information for specific resources.

The CA NetSpy VTAM interface is similar to the NPM Session
Subsystem in function and information provided.  However,
there are enough differences in the actual data provided that
three CA MICS Network Analyzer Option files are used to
accommodate the data.  The files containing only CA NetSpy
data are:

   o  CA NetSpy Application (PLU) File (SNTNSP)
   o  CA NetSpy Terminal (SLU) File (SNTNSS)
   o  CA NetSpy Virtual Route Activity File (SNTNVR)


NETWORK RESPONSE TIME AND DEFINITE RESPONSE

Like IBM's NPM, CA NetSpy records host and network response
times.  And, like NPM, network response is calculated only
for network responses for which definite response (DR) is
active.

A key feature of CA NetSpy is its ability to activate DR for
some or all network responses.  This feature, called FORCEDR,
is provided as a CA NetSpy initialization option. The user
may specify, for each application, the percentage of
transactions for which FORCEDR is to be used, from 10 to 100
percent.  Use of FORCEDR permits CA NetSpy to calculate
network response time with no application overhead or
interference, and minimal line traffic overhead.


MULTIPLE SESSION MANAGER SUPPORT

Multiple session managers, such as IBM's NetView Access, CA
Teleview Session Management for z/OS, and others, permit a
user at a single terminal to access multiple host
applications (for example, TSO, CICS, and IMS)
simultaneously.  The multiple session manager accomplishes
this by establishing a session with the real terminal, and
one or more "virtual terminal sessions" to various
applications on behalf of the user.

For terminal sessions of this type, network monitors provide
correct host and network information for the session between
the real terminal and the multiple session manager, but they
cannot report complete information for the virtual terminal
sessions between the multiple session manager and the host
applications.

CA NetSpy, however, provides a general interface to multiple
session manager applications, which permits accurate
recording of network response and terminal name for virtual
terminal sessions.  This is accomplished by having the
session manager notify CA NetSpy when a new session is
activated or session switching occurs.  If you are running a
multiple session manager application at your site or are
considering implementing one, you should check with the
vendor of the product to verify that it will communicate with
CA NetSpy via the multiple session manager interface.

An expanded discussion of the effects of multiple session
manager products on network information is provided in
Section 6.8, Multiple Session Manager Considerations.
Section 6.3.11, CA NetSpy Data Considerations, discusses the
CA NetSpy multiple session manager interface in more depth.